My idea of having a group of encouraging people when it comes to #health and #fitness is always something I work on. I heard years ago the 5 people you spend most of your time with are a reflection of who you are. Given that much of my day is around other people being fitness classes or personal training clients, I want to keep those people and that group as positive and optimistic as possible (if nothing else for selfish reasons). I don’t accept certain words (ie ‘I can’t’) around me, at classes or during workouts, it simply isn’t acceptable. These words are a frame of mind like most actions throughout the day.

I’m not able to express how important your environment is and how much those we surround ourselves with influence our lives both positively and negatively. If there’s something you want to accomplish the very first thing I’d recommend is to engulf yourself in a lifestyle that represents what you want or where you want to go. If you want to start living healthier you start hanging around with people that live healthier. This is no different than those weight loss schemes that don’t work. Funny how friends of friends and groups of individuals cultivate around a weight loss shake for example; this isn’t a coincidence. Marketing schemes built around these products are to show you instant results (which are rarely sustainable). But it’s all about marketing, they show you quick results, maybe quick weight loss, a quick financial gain (if you choose to sell it) and there we are hooked into thinking we’ve made real changes when as soon as you go off the product we’re right back at square one.

The problem is many don’t change their lifestyle, they don’t change their frame of mind, there isn’t any positive reinforcement happening except the massive weight loss without education and there you sit, in the exact same place as you were before you started.

If you really want to make a change in your life, if you really want to make a difference, reach a goal or improve your quality of life, look to your environment first. Look to those around you, consider whether or not they’re encouraging, whether they hold you back or push you forward. Pay attention to what you watch on tv, what’s in your inbox, what you scroll through when you sit down in front of your computer. You may not know it but these will play a significant role in who you are, how you talk, think and act.

I asked our group of class members to write down a positive affirmation or quote almost two years ago. It’s clearly time for an update but they’re still there, they sit around my mirror and I read them every single morning. They represent a positive group that we’ve built together, they represent a mind set and more than anything, the environment I choose to live in every single day.